


Tainted

by lazyplotenthusist



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Angst, Demon Levi (Shingeki no Kyojin), I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, Levi/Eren Yeager-centric, M/M, Suicidal Thoughts, riren - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-19
Updated: 2017-04-22
Packaged: 2018-10-21 00:30:20
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 6
Words: 2,819
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10673946
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lazyplotenthusist/pseuds/lazyplotenthusist
Summary: “Do you regret what you’ve done.”He didn’t ask how Levi knew.The soaked blade on the ground, streams of red melting off into vein patterned puzzle pieces, connecting his wrong doings. The trembling hands, clutching desperately to crushed throats.The cries of vengeance from cracked lips, choking on vows of destruction.And he had destroyed them.Every last one.“No.”





	1. Chapter 1

“Hey kid.”  
The rain splattered in fat droplets over the pavement, staining his ankles with gritty slosh. The voice was deep, soothing and masculine against the telling pound of rain. Yet soft. Like an intimate prayer.  
Glazed eyes flicked up, squinting through the haze to seek out the source. They gleamed beneath the flickering lighting, the color of storming seas.  
“You’ll fester in disease standing out here.”  
A man stood before him, face masked by a halo of blocked streams, rain cracking on the cover of his umbrella.  
Eren hadn't seen him approach.  
“Oi. You deaf?”  
It was as if snapping awake from a dream, the clouding haze of his mind clearing, focusing entirely on this new target. His bruised lips parted, the chill of rainwater spilling against his tongue. It tasted of ice and leaking rust.  
“I’m not.” Eren wheezed, the response trembling from his tattered chest.  
The figure drew closer still, his boots scuffling over soaked pavement, faint splashes sending arcs through shallow puddles. The shroud seemed to lift from the strange face, features solidifying to form a flawless being. Steely grey eyes pierced through his core, and saw him to the very bone. Past the stained knuckles and gore coated teeth, past the animalistic murder still shining in his own vivid eyes- and to the shaking boy beneath.  
“You look disgusting.”  
The beautiful man wasn’t wrong.  
Eren licked his lips, the taste of washed rust once again registering. “Got beat.” His voice sounded stronger this time, the faint rasp still clinging to the tenor.  
“And soaking yourself in rainwater will help, eh? If I didn’t know better, I’d think you were a drowned rat.”  
He blinked, the blunt edge of the words unable to trigger rage. How unusual.  
“Go home.” The man told him, gloved hand elegantly wrapped around the steel pole of his umbrella. Eren faintly wondered what those hands would look like bare.  
If they would be uncalloused and smooth, or rough and learned. If they would glow with the same ethereal light.  
“I don’t have a home.” His heart thumped dully within the cage of his aching ribs.  
No home. Not anymore.  
The man seemed to pause, slender brow lifting in a graceful arch. The sweep of piercing silver was so tangible to him, so inflaming.  
“Come on then.”  
Eren remained frozen in his step, even as the stranger turned, his stride calm and expectant.  
“Unless you’d rather waste away out here. Your choice, filthy brat.”  
His response remained caught in his throat, droplets trickling over his long eyelashes and mimicking tears, paving down a bruised, tanned face.  
He couldn’t answer. He merely followed, trailing behind the handsome man in the rain.  
And never once did the stranger mention the stained blade Eren had left behind.


	2. Chapter 2

“Levi, by the way.”   
Eren blinked, startled eyes flicking up to the hovering man.   
Slender, pale fingers worked effortlessly over his damp skin, patching the gore with steady swipes of disinfectant, followed with crisp bandages. They moved to his knuckles, the contrast porcelain against light olive.  
Eren determined it was a mixture. The stranger’s hands. They were both smooth, yet capable. Strong.  
“Levi.” He repeated it softly, liking how it felt rolling from his tongue.   
His mother had always told him never to talk to strangers. Certainly never to follow them into their homes.  
His mother wasn’t here.  
“Why’d you take me here.” He whispered, flexing his fingers within their new bindings. The faint sting was enough to ground him, recalling the vivid blur of memory within the storming night.   
They hadn’t expected him to bring a knife.  
“You don’t know me. I could be some freak.” Wasn’t he though?  
The man- Levi. Levi only nodded, his face serene. A blank, beautiful doll mask.  
“It’s possible.” He cut a strip of medical tape, using it to secure a staining cloth to his cheek. The sound was abrupt and sharp, close enough to feel the light flicker of movement.   
“Why did you follow me.”   
Eren blinked as the question was turned on him, his dried lips parting for a response.   
What did he have left to lose anymore.  
“Had nowhere else to go.”   
Levi took the defeated comment with a twitch of stoic lips, cold fingertips smoothing the sticky strip into place. “I could be some freak.”   
Eren only exhaled, his stormy teal eyes gleaming in faint, grim humor, flicking up as the porcelain hands withdrew. He sat, swathed in bandages and towels, his damp form shivering upon it’s temporary perch. A well used washing machine, in a stranger’s home.  
“Then we’d make a pair.”

\---

“You haven’t asked me yet.”   
Pale lips tightened, steely grey eyes flicking to the speaking boy, now motionlessly seated on the stiff couch.   
A mug of hot tea warmed his hand, pulsing life into the clammy, tan skin.   
“About what happened.” Eren continued, finally raising his gaze from the dead stare into the brown liquid.   
Levi merely watched, his elegant fingers allowing the seeping bag to dangle over the surface of his own liquid, the color bleeding into the clear.  
“I don’t need to.”   
He felt that piercing silver gaze rake over him, devouring every detail he struggled to conceal.  
“Do you regret what you’ve done.”   
He didn’t ask how Levi knew.   
The soaked blade on the ground, streams of red melting off into vein patterned puzzle pieces, connecting his wrong doings. The trembling hands, clutching desperately to crushed throats.  
The cries of vengeance from cracked lips, choking on vows of destruction.  
And he had destroyed them.   
Every last one.  
“No.” He whispered, his hand shaking in it’s deadly grip. Sharp droplets rolled down his skin, the hot liquid hazardously tipping over the rim. “They deserved it.” He whispered like a revelation, like a dying man finding reason to live.  
“They took everything from me- So I erased them from this world like the vermin they were! I cut them to little pieces, and smeared their blood on my hands! They begged me for their lives and I-” His breath caught, eyes gleaming with the chaotic sheen of a savage.   
“I snuffed them out.”  
The mug clattered sharply to the tabletop, liquid sloshing and spilling in a sluggish cloud.  
“Every last one of them.”  
Levi was silent, for a while. Merely staring at the rageful creature before him, the seething agony that scorched behind ocean colored depths. His silver eyes flickered.  
If Eren watched closely, he would swear he saw a grain of desire.  
“Beautiful.”


	3. Chapter 3

“Happened eight years ago. We were at a carnival.”   
Levi had migrated closer to the damp boy, occupying the same seat. He hunched in an interesting manner, his arm draped over the cushion where Eren leaned, legs elegantly folded.   
“Mikasa wanted to leave earlier. She didn’t like walking back so far in the dark.” A towel was tossed underneath the assaulted mug of tea, soaking in the dark stains.  
“It was my fault. I made them wait for some stupid shitty ride. I knew the line was too long but I was selfish.”  
He was so petty then. So stubborn.  
“There were six of them. They wanted mom’s purse.” His swallow caught, trapped in a dry, clenching throat. “I lost it when they started on Mikasa. One of them went for me...he had blonde hair. I didn’t even see the gun until she’d jumped in front of it.”  
The ear shattering bang that echoed in his mind so often replayed once more. The slump of bodies on the ground. The thud of bone impacting with pavement.  
“Mom told me to run. She didn’t even do anything, and those monsters- Those ANIMALS, they-” His eyes flooded in emotion, ocean colored eyes flashing with uncontrollable waves.  
“I couldn’t fight. My dad took me and ran, got hit in the back twice. He died in the hospital a week later.”  
Bandaged fingers twisted, nails tapping uncontrollably against his palms.   
“I’ve been looking for so long. Been waiting. And I finally found them all.”   
Levi merely watched him, those unwavering irises caught on every detail of this boy. Drinking him in, like a rich, decadent meal.   
He had no idea.  
“They didn’t remember me. I wish they had. So they would look and me and know- Know they’d taken their last toxic breath.”   
He looked up then, finally seeming to focus on the other man, hazy eyes clearing from the force of his memory.  
“....Do you think I’m a monster, Levi.” He asked the stranger.  
Thin lips twitched, the closest Eren had yet to see of any kind of smile. The action was deadly, like the rattle of a snake before a strike.  
“Oh Eren. You don’t know the first thing about monsters.”  
Ocean colored eyes widened, his lips twitching apart in a questioning murmur.  
He had never told Levi his name.


	4. Chapter 4

“Mom, I’m too old for the nightlight. Gettit out.”  
Her chuckle was soft and kind, a smooth palm cupping his cheek.  
“I know, you’re a growing boy, Eren. I’m proud of you. But do you really want to sleep without even a little, tiny bit of light?”  
His nose scrunched, bunching his sheets stubbornly between small, bandaid coated fists.  
“Mikasa doesn’t use a nightlight so I don’t want one either!”  
She tutted, the mattress dipping gently under her weight as she sat by his side, petting brunette strands from his eyes. “Mikasa doesn’t mind the dark.” She murmured, tucking some behind a small, reddened ear.  
“I don’t either, it’s not scary!” He insisted, bunching his sheets closer in disapproval.  
His lie was easy enough to disregard, her smile soft as she gazed down at her son.  
“Eren. You don’t have to be ashamed of it.” Her finger grazes his cheek. “Let me tell you about a little secret.”  
The child shuffled a bit closer, his stormy teal eyes widening in vivid curiosity.  
“The dark can’t ever hurt you. Because you, my sweet Eren, are a wonderful, good boy.”  
Her palm touched over his heart, smoothing a thumb on the gently beating flesh.  
“And as long as you stay good inside, no scary monster can gobble you up.” She tickled him then, leaving the child to thrash and giggle, a grin stretched over his face.  
“Remember that.”  
Mirthful teal eyes closed, before horror stricken ones opened.  
The man sat next to him, molten silver gaze burning in the faintly lit room. The look on his beautiful face was almost predatory, his casually tossed arm turned menacing.  
“...How do you know my name?” He whispered, his bandaged fists clenching, sending sparks of pain through his torn skin.  
“Tch. What don’t I know about you, Eren Jaeger.” His slender, pale fingers were spidery around his tea mug, gripping the rim in an elegant yet unsettling manner.  
“Your wrath is like a beacon. Every inch of you drips with rage. With potential.”  
The mug makes a clang on the table, the sound causing the wounded boy to flinch, eyes locked on the stranger.  
“It’s mouthwatering. And now, finally. You’ve succumbed.”  
In a manner of seconds, a chilling hand gripped his chin, an unreasonable strength tilting it to meet eyes of silver. Nails pressed to damp skin, sending small pricks of irritation through his trembling flesh.  
Ocean met steel.  
And steel turned to black.  
“You’ve been a naughty boy, Eren.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hazzah, my first fanfic. I'll try and keep the updates rolling, I hope you like!


	5. Chapter 5

Levi Ackerman had never been one for wasting time.  
Why chase pointless, unsatisfying ends. Why dangle petty sinners from his pretty fingertips when they were worth but a mouthful.   
His gaze set solely on the dedicant, on the overwhelmingly potent.   
Which was why Eren Jaeger was simply a treat.  
The boy’s soul was a black, twisted maze. Corruption, vengeance, wrath and gluttony. Violent arcs of spraying gore clouded his past, and shaped his darkening future. He was a meal to be cherished. Savored.  
How Levi longed to indulge in just a taste of that sweet sin.   
He’d watched him for years. Since that very day, when the corpses of his lost family surrounded the mere child. When the rage first consumed him.  
Direct interference would be cheating after all, so Levi merely lingered in his shadow. Stalked the predator as he pursued his own prey. He observed with greed, longing for the wrathful haze of his soul as it grew.  
Finally he had done it.  
Eren had given in, completely and fully.   
Levi had seen the bloodlust in his eyes, the color like a raging sea.   
How beautiful he looked, streaked in the red of his fallen victims. How delectable, while standing before his carnage.   
Even now, the unnerved creature before him was simply intoxicating. His fear and violent instinct battled, as Levi held firmly to the warm, alive flesh. His gaze caught on the trembling swallow of his neck, the bead of sweat trailing down smooth muscle. How delicate he was.   
So easily could his hands crush the life from that pretty, pretty throat.  
“Do you know who I am, Eren.” He whispered, pitch eyes burning with an insatiable lust.   
He would covet Eren Jaeger.  
The boy flinched, a bandaged hand weakly clinging to his own, grasping the steel fingers.  
“You’re not real.” He whispered, denial thick on his tongue.   
A thumb parted those soft, trembling lips, nail insistently tapping against once bloody teeth.   
So delicate.  
“I assure you, I am.” Black eyes paved over his prey, trapping him in a carnivorous gaze. He would consume him.   
Possess him.  
Own him.  
“I’m here to make a deal.”


	6. Chapter 6

“I’m here to make a deal.”   
Eren blinked, the words seeming to twine through the air with dark promise. Black eyes stared hungrily at his caught frame, dried lips forced to part.  
“A deal.” He whispered, his hands curling by his sides. He wanted to curl away, yet lash out. Scream, yet submit.   
“What kind of deal.”   
The demon pressed back his lips in a mockery of a smile, such an emotion not capable on such a beautiful, stoic face.   
“Are you tired, Eren.” The thumb smoothed lovingly over his flesh.  
“Your vengeance has been dealt. Your shit sorted. What do you have now, hm? What are you going to live for, now that they’ve fallen.”  
He swallowed, feeling the motion catch in his throat.   
“You’ve built your world around your rage. Became the monster to fight monsters. Your tainted soul is blackened beyond repair, and without an outlet, well.” A sharp nail pressed into his cheek.  
“You’ll be the one leaving screaming orphans on the streets.”   
A jolt passed through his chest, the memory flickering before his stricken gaze. The bodies of his family surrounding a motionless child, covered in blood and reeling with overwhelming agony.  
That he could ever be the cause of such pain- The idea sent his stomach churning in bile.   
“I’d never.” He whispered, a strong jerk of his chin successfully removing the demon’s grip.  
The pale lips merely twitched, black eyes gleaming with mild amusement.   
“Oh? Tell me, how did it feel to hold their worthless lives in the palm of your hand? Was it thrilling? Empowering? Just?”   
The voice seemed to curl around him like a coiling snake, trapping him in the confines of it’s sweet silk. “I bet you craved it. Like a drug, you’ll be searching for your next fix. Something to blame, something to unleash that caged beast inside of you. Innocent or guilty, the differences all eventually fade. Until nothing matters but the kill.”   
A slender finger roughly poked his chest.  
“I’m offering you a chance to tame it before it begins.”  
Eren blinked, the slow motion hardly hiding him from the burning black gaze.  
Those eyes looked so beautiful in silver. Now they beckoned him in a different way.  
“How.” He whispered it, shock still from his perch. His body had gone numb, fingers limply twitching upon his knees. They were clammy against the soft material of the borrowed sweatpants.  
Levi leaned closer, until sweet breath brushed his ear, and cold, teasing fingertips smoothed over his jolting skin.   
“Give yourself to me.” The words sent a shiver down his spine, the low snicker of amusement from the action soft on the demon’s tongue.   
“I can make it stop. Everything that’s spiraling out of your control, every hint of hidden loneliness. You can be at peace. Doesn’t that sound like something you want?”   
Didn’t it? The idea of closing his eyes, giving in and going to sleep. To seal the growing emptiness he had been patching with years of anger and hate. But this was crazy. Giving himself to a demon, allowing himself to be taken body and soul to a creature of darkness.   
A creature that spoke so sweet.  
“My family.” He pulled back, just enough to see the beautiful face. “Would I see them again.”  
A cold hand slid to cup his jaw, smoothing strands of damp hair from his face in a gentle caress.   
“Oh yes, Eren. You’d never have to leave.”


End file.
